River in a Desert
by Yojimbra
Summary: On his first day in Tokyo Akira stumbles into a strangle world filled with sand and a giant sphinx that thinks somebody killed it. Oh and there's a cute redhead there that's running away from guys. But mostly he just wants to go home.
1. Stranger in a Singed Land

Sojiro Sakura's house was somewhere around here, wasn't it?

Akira scratched the back of his head as he examined yet another alleyway barely wide enough to walk through let alone drive a car through. This was the right street… probably. At least he wasn't entirely lost at this point. He was still in Yongen-jaya.

Man, living in the city was going to be confusing how on earth was he ever going to find anything. Oh, right smart phones have maps. He should probably put in the address but he doubted that his phone would recognize "go to Sojiro's house in Yongen-jaya".

"Let's see here, Man it doesn't look like Sojiro is home right now." Akira overheard a delivery man with a package complain, near the end of the alley, he had a rather large package, heavy to from the way he was carrying. The box was label fragile as well, probably some kind of computer thing.

"Is this Sojiro's house?" pointed to the modest two story building, even as his eyes read the nameplate of Sakura near the gate. Huh, the door was open too, if Sojiro really wasn't home that could be problematic.

"Yea, and you are?" The delivery man shifted the package around on his knees, muttering under his breath how heavy the damn thing was. "Oh wait, you're the kid he's going to be taking in right? Akira something or other."

"Kurusu, and yea, that's me." He should probably tell Sojiro that his door was open.

"Right, well I'm going to leave this with you then, if you break it Sojiro will have your hide, I got like thirty other deliveries to make before two!" It was two thirty.

Before Akira could so much as get his barrings the delivery man had shoved the package into his arms and sped away in his truck. Leaving him a delinquent standing in an alleyway with an expensive piece of electronics. Only he wasn't a delinquent, at least not on purpose.

"Stupid sense of morals," Akira grumbled as he waddled towards the open door. He caught a motion from the upstairs window. Was someone home? Was it Sojiro? Did someone else live here? Was there a way to get that delivery drive reported?

Using his knee to push open the door Akira came face to face with an ugly old toad statue. And some really dark hallways. Seriously, did anybody even live here? Setting the box down on the floor Akira glanced at the label in the little light that managed to leak in through the door.

"Futaba Sakura, is she Sojiro's wife? Or maybe a sister could be his daughter, weird how nobody mentioned her." Akira mumbled to himself. He pulled out his phone, huh, that weird app was glowing again, he should delete it later, but first the flash light. "If I was a spare key where would I be?"

Akira checked under the frog, the only thing that greeted him there was a ring of dust and a could spiders. "Man, this place is like a tomb, like he hasn't bothered to clean it in months."

One of the many aspects of him that nobody knew about was that he was a neat freak. A compulsive cleaner. "Maybe if I clean up around here he'd thank me and forgive me for trespassing?"

Or he'd find a key. A key would be great.

Placing his phone down Akira walked to the closet intent on showing Sojiro Sakura that he was closer to a maid than a delinquent… though calling him a delinquent maid would also be acceptable.

The moment he entered the closet he fell forward.

The darkness was replaced by a light coming from a furious sun high in the sky. The Cool air of the closet was replaced by air baked in a furnace. Dust turned to sand, lots and lots of sand.

Akira stood up, his entire body was already sweating to try and cool off, his eyes felt like they were boiling. He had gone from the middle of Tokyo to the middle of a hot as fuck desert by walking through his caretakers closet! Said closet was nowhere to be seen, nor was the house, all there was was a giant pyramid surrounded what looked like a small town.

"Futaba! You killed me!" A voice like a lawnmower on a chalkboard pierced through the sky as a giant shadow covered the land. A flying cat the size of an airplane with the head of a woman was currently in the sky.

Akira blinked as the sphinx like creature made another pass. "I don't remember licking the toad, maybe the spider bit me."

XXXX

Sure the fact that he didn't have water in the middle of a desert was probably going to kill him, but what Akira wished he had right now was his phone. He just had to set it down! He was a teenager! What teenager just sets down their phone? He should have just put it in his pocket or keep it in his hand.

If he had his phone he could call for help, or at least find out where the hell he was. And probably take a picture of the annoying Sphinx thing that. Or try and find out exactly what he was on to make him hallucinate, dying of heat stroke.

Though the fact that the sand was actually hot and actually sandy meant he probably was dying from heat stroke.

Who the hell keeps a freaking desert in their closet?

"You killed me! I wish I never had you!" Apparently the same person that kept a giant annoying Sphinx in said desert? Seriously was that Sojiro's pet? It didn't seem very house broken, maybe that's why it was kept in its own giant litter box.

So far as he trekked across the sun scorched land scape he had gathered many things. One, Futaba Sakura apparently the daughter of the giant sphinx thing. Two, His Shuujin Academy jacket was excellent at providing shade. And three, he was going to die.

It wasn't even going to be a fun death, just a pathetic "died of lack of water in the desert." That's like dying from poisonous animal in Australia! Where was the fun and excitement in that? Maybe that was why he was walking towards the pyramid with the giant flying sphinx circling around it.

"Eaten by giant sphinx," just sounded so much cooler for his obituary.

Akira looked down on the ruined city that sprawled out before him. If he wasn't so thirst that drinking is urine was fast becoming a good idea then he might have been able to no doubt appreciate the ancient architecture.

If he had his phone he'd love to take a selfie with it, he could get the angle just right so the sun shined on his glasses, and pool of the "I'm too cool to be here look."

Something caught his eye, it was motion, a girl was being chased but what looked like a group of bandits, with a few mummies mixed in. But more importantly a well of water! Okay, plan of action, save the girl drink the water!

Maybe she knew how to get out of here!

Another hidden aspect of Akira was that he was a natural hero. His mother had several photos of him running around with a red cape and trying to punch bad guys. It was likely going to get him killed one day… probably today actually.

It was fairly easy to run down hill in sand, especially once he started to use his hands, arms, and face. Falling, he was falling.

Fortunately for whatever dignity had survived the desert, Akira managed to land on his feet, just at the base of random wall. And apparently right next to where the bandits and mummies had cornered a short girl dressed like an Egyptian with the most beautiful ginger hair he'd ever seen.

Another fact about Akira was that he had a soft spot for redheads.

"No, please don't hurt me." The girl cowered as the creeps closed in on her. Shadowy tendrils extended from the masks that they all wore like a miasma.

Well, that settled it, time to save the damsel and try not to die, but most importantly look cool doing it. Grabbing a loose brick Akira through it at one of the creeps, missing the one he was aiming for but still hitting one of them.

"Hey!" Akira stood in the middle of the street. He should probably say something cool, but what could he say to something that took a brick to the head and just looked at him like he kicked his dog. Oh hell, it was too late now, just own it and stand there ready to fight.

They swarmed him; the girl completely forgotten. Akira smiled as she took the moment to run away before he drew upon his ones fight worth of experience and got hit right in the face. And then in the stomach, and the face again.

Noble sacrifice was another thing that sounded cooler than dehydration at least.

"Ahh" the damn girl screamed again, Akira's eyes flashed just in time to see two more of the masked creeps carrying her back towards the rest of them. Damn. it was all for nothing.

"This is truly an unjust game…" The light faded so that only a blue butterfly could be seen, floating hopelessly about. Please don't be called Navi. "Your chances of winning are almost none."

As long as they weren't zero it was practically a sure thing!

"But if my voice is reaching you, there may yet be a possibility open to you."

The pain of his beating was pushed aside as his head felt like it was going to explode.

"What's the matter…? Are you simply giving up just like that?" The pain grew with every where behind his eyes like he was growing a second skull. His body was sweating more than before, and his vision became blurry. "Are you just going to sit there and let them win?"

"Death awaits you if you do nothing." He knew that. "Was your previous decision a mistake then?" No, doing the right thing was never a mistake. Not before when he threw his life away, and not now when he was on the brink of death.

"It was not a mistake," Akira growled against the pain, even as another punch landed against his body, odd how he didn't really feel that.

They were going to hurt the girl! He had to do something! Akira struggled against the creeps otherworldly strength, digging his feet in the sand as he managed to push forward slightly.

The voice chuckled. "Very well… I have heeded your resolve."

Pain and understanding ripped through him, thrashing wildly as his body spasmed out of his control. It felt like his skull was about to explode.

"Vow to me." Every single cell of his body was exploding in pain. A thousand times worse than any beating he had received, like every single one of his teeth had been ripped out. "I am thou, thou art I…"

His arm broke free from their grasp as he stumbled forward, gripping his forehead. "Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice. Call upon my name, and release thy rage!"

With a manly scream, he stumbled forward, still standing on his own two feet. Their eyes were on him, and he couldn't care less. The name was becoming clear. The voice it was… it was.

"Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to hell itself." The pain in his body stopped, and he regained control over his body.

One of the creeps was about to hit him.

Arsene

The name was power itself. The mere awakening of the name was enough to make these pathetic creeps stumble away from him.

A mask? Why was he wearing a mask? And why did he need to tear it off? It felt like ripping off his thumbnail as he dug underneath it pulling away where the skin and mask met. Blood began to cover his vision.

But there was power in the blood, just as there was power in the name. Akira began to laugh, this, this was amazing, this was who he truly was, who he truly desired to be. Blue flames engulfed him as he ripped the mask off.

"Pillage them! Arsene!"

 **AN: hey look! Persona 5 fic! (I'm still obsessed with his game) So yeah, I hope you all enjoy it. As this is the first chapter it's a bit short as I set up for the next chapter. (Plus it lets me skip a fight scene in a cool way with a cliff hanger)**


	2. Heart Beat for a Demon

After a long and bloody battle - where he pulled off some cool looking moves - Akira stood victorious. He had to admit, Arsene, was just the right amount of stylish and flashy, to say nothing of his new clothes, he had no idea where they -or the dagger- had come from, but they allowed him to play the hero and save the ginger damsel in distress.

Only she didn't look very grateful.

"Why did you risk your life to save me?" She was glaring at him in a way that made her look even cuter. She was an odd ball for sure, barely coming up to his chest with giant glasses that clashed against her her sexy-pharaoh costume. But beyond that was her absolutely breathtaking copper hair that laid flat against her back. Even as it glistened under the desert sun it managed to look silky and smooth.

He wanted to pet her.

So he did, reaching a hand out he patted her on the top of her head. "You know, normally when people you get saved you're supposed to say thank you and smile, and I bet you have a pretty smile. Name's Akira by the way."

Actually, normally when he tried to save people he got in trouble, first, there was that time with detention, and then there was that bald man that got him thrown out of his own school. But hey this was his first damsel! And he wanted to see her smile.

Or at least get a get a kiss on the cheek. "How old are you anyway?"

His damsel, while temporarily from the head pat shook free and took a step back. Oh, she blushed easily and looked cute while doing it. She was going to be a lot of fun. "I'm fifteen, and you didn't save me I want to die."

"No, you don't." If she died he'd have to find a new girlfriend, thankfully she was just short and barely a year younger than him as well.

"Excuse me?" Her glare turned dangerous like a ferocious bad kitten…. Okay maybe comparing her to a cat isn't the best analogy. Point being she was cute when she was mad. "How would you know what I want? I want to die, I deserve to die."

"Then why'd you run?" The simple truth stunned his damsel for a few heart moments, as her yellow eyes widened.

"I don't want to get hurt," She mumbled her eyes darting towards the ground. She shifted uneasily, in the way that cute girls did when they're embarrassed. "I'm afraid of getting pain."

"Then you're afraid of death," Akira stepped towards her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Pain is the fear of death, besides cute girls like you shouldn't want to die."

Not the best pick up line but it was probably better than 'You're too cute to die'. Plus, it worked! !he was blushing now! Yep, that sold it she was going to be his girlfriend.

A scream from above drew their eyes upwards.

XXXX

Futaba glared at her monitor again, this had to be some kind of a graphical glitch. The punk that had entered her home carrying her new monitor, had literally disappeared into the closet. Not just disappear, vanish like he wasn't ever there, to begin with. At first, she thought that her eyes were playing tricks on her and that there had never been a frizzy haired sasquatch hell bent on cleaning their house.

But no, the audio logs were there, the camera said he was there. The logical and curious parts of her brain were demanding that she go investigate. But they were shackled as another episode of grief that cast heavy chains of regret on her every muscle.

The voices came, tearing at her head with their razor sharp truths.

"Threw herself into traffic, apparently she couldn't stand you,"

"It was because of you that she destroyed all her research,"

A dozen voices sinking their razor sharp words into her mind, raking at it until only ribbons were left. But worse, worse was the voice of her own mother that stabbed at her heart.

"You killed me Futaba! I wish you had never been born!"

Futaba groaned hunching over in her chair as the mental assaults continued. "Please, stop, don't hurt me."

The voices did not listen they never listened, they would continue to rape and pillage her mind until she was nothing but a worthless husk and had to sleep for a week. If she could call that nightmare fueled state where she was unable to move her body a form of sleep. It was just her mind and body being so exhausted that she could no longer function.

Seconds bled into minutes, this was going to be a long one, what ever had happened to frizzy hair would have to wait. "Why can't I just die? I don't want to feel anymore."

It stopped. The grating voices, the tearing of her mind, the lack of focus, everything just stopped. Something was fighting her shadows, as a warmth spread across her body. For a few moments, she felt… she felt… well, she felt like she wasn't depressed.

His name shined brightly in her mind, that man with Frizzy Hair.

"Arsene…. And Akira?" She mumbled as her feet hit the ground, that was his name, right? The delinquent that was going to show up and stay at Le Blanc, he was called Akira Kurusu. Why did she know his name? And why was his name appearing in her mind along with the feeling of not being depressed?

"And who the heck is Arsene?" Gingerly sprinting down the stairs Futaba stopped just at the bottom, where the closet was open, a broom and mop lying haphazardly on the floor, her package was still where he had left it, and ah-ha! His phone.

Password protected? Pfft, child's play, getting inside of his phone was the easy part. Maybe it had something to do with where he went? Her eyes were drawn to a weird app that was glowing and pulsating like it was alive, a red eye at the center was staring right at her.

She'd never seen an app like that, nor one that pulsating around it, generally speaking Icons were just a jpg of a certain size, a few had animations when pressed, but none would glow and pulsate like this one did. Curiosity got the better of her as she pressed the app.

A black screen appeared, followed quickly by text coming from all different locations aligning to form a single line. "Current Location: Futaba Sakura's… Tomb?"

Her own phone buzzed the second she uttered those words. Who on earth was texting her? She The only person that knew her number was Sojiro and he couldn't text his way out of a paper bag.

Dual wielding phones Futaba glanced at hers, now she had the strange app on her phone. Was thing some kind of virus that transmitted itself via Bluetooth, to install itself as some weird location app? The app on her phone activated itself.

"Now preparing Futaba Sakura for transport to Futaba Sakura's Tomb."

That didn't sound good.

The ground wavered and shimmered like it was stuck through a fun house mirror until it vanished, and she fell downward. The perfectly set air conditioned temperature of her home was replaced by a sweltering heat that was like every star in the night sky had suddenly come to as close to the earth as their own sun resulting in an extra crispy earth.

Light blinded her like Sojiro had just ripped the covers off of her during one of his bi-monthly attempts to get her to do something. She became aware, that she was in a desert of some kind, that it was far too hot, and that she didn't have her shoes on. Oh and that she was falling.

She did the only Natural thing in that moment and screamed, bracing for impact and hoping that the sand was really just packaging peanuts and this was just some fluffy bonus stage of her life! "Up up, down down, left, right, left, right, B A!"

Cheat codes didn't work!

"I got you!" A manly voice shouted from nearby; her cheat code worked and summoned something to save her! Hopefully, it could fly! Opening her eyes she saw a black shape, ascending a shattered tower like a shadow given form. When it reached the top of the tower a giant pair of raven wings erupted from its blacks sending blue flames outwards.

A demon. A demon of black and red was flying towards her to devour her soul! If possible she screamed louder. This was it, she was finally going to die. Shouldn't she be happier about this? Hadn't she wanted to die?

A pair of hands instead of raking talons grabbed her shoulders, Safety instead of terror washed over her, and as she opened her eyes instead of a demon she saw a black winged angel with frizzy hair and a white mask.

"You must be an angel," No angle would have a cocky self-important smirk like that on his face. "If you're falling from heaven."

Was that a pickup line? She couldn't tell it was covered in so much cheese. Who the hell was this joker? "What? No! Where are we? What are we doing? Why are we here?"

That stupid smirk of his grew a fraction of an inch, as he swooped his hand under knee caps. Panic mode set in as she recognized this pose, he just saved the princess from the castle and she was the princess! "Sorry bad pick-up line, We're in the desert, falling with style, and your guess is as good as mine. Oh and brace yourself!"

They had been falling for a while now, wait where did his wings go?

She had barely enough time to shriek before they hit the ground, the Joker held onto her tight as they tumbled forward head over heels, sending sand and limbs everywhere, before they finally skidded to a stop.

"Oww," Futaba groaned as she pulled herself up off the hot sand, resting her knees on the only cool surface she could find. Couldn't that Joker have worked on his landing? And speaking of which where was he?

"You know," Oh please not the cliche fall and end up in some perverted position where she was straddling him? Looking down she saw that stupid smirk of his that made her face flush, somehow he landed with both hands behind his back looking far too pleased with himself. "Normally I'd wait until the third date before I'm in this position."

"Wha-Wha-what are you saying?" She pushed off of his chest falling backward into the searing hot sand. Her heartbeat was going to crazy from all this physical activity and excitement, it was like that time she played a scary game and had to leave the lights on. Only she wasn't in her room!

"You shouldn't be here," A female voice said from above her, Futaba strained her eyes against the harsh sun and saw… herself?... dressed as a pharaoh? Great! She was now that star in yet another 'Sent to Another World' anime.

"Umm, who are you?"

"I'm you."

Yep, this had crappy light novel written all over it, all that was missing was a harem and a Playboy MC that was incredibly over powered and… Oh, oh no. She glanced over to the still smirking joker. "There's no way you're the MC! Not happening!"

She was not going to be part of a trashy harem story!

"Futaba!" The depression and despair that had been vacant from her mind suddenly set in. It was that heart piercing voice that paralyzed her and filled her with dread. Her eyes flew towards the sky where she saw it. Her mother was flying towards her. "You killed me Futaba!"

This was it, her mother was finally coming to kill her, this was how she deserved to die, by the hand of her own mother.

"We should run," Her Pharohself mumbled, though she barely heard it over the sound of her blood rushing through her veins.

Her body was frozen, even if she wanted to move there was no way that she could with her mother staring right at her. For years she had avoided looking at her mother's picture, the simple sight of her would send her into another episode.

"Right!" Joker shouted grabbing her hand. For a moment it felt like the depression had been pushed aside and her legs were able to follow joker as he leads her and that other her towards the pyramid.

Just as the massive Sphinx body of her mother crashed into the town behind her.

"You don't want to die now do you?"

Why was it that she wanted to answer that with a yes?

 **AN: This was a fun chapter, Though I admit to having problem with Futaba's character atm. It's strange trying to mix her being depressed and geeky, I hope its obvious that Akira's actions towards Shadow Futaba affect the real Futaba... atleast a little bit. I'm also playing off of Morgana's theory that if the Shaodw of the Palace knows who you are the real version might become aware of it.**


	3. River in a Fried Land

Running through the desert dressed like a vigilante out of a chuunibyou's fantasy carrying an adorable nerdy redhead - that had really nice legs - on his shoulder while dragging her cosplaying twin, while a giant sphinx with their mother's head -who admittedly might be attractive if she'd turn down the murderous rage - chased after them screaming about how Futaba killed her, was not how Akira thought he'd spend his first day in Tokyo

Which was clearly not true. She was clearly alive. And Futaba looked like she couldn't hurt a fly. Unless it was a video game or something then all bets were off.

To sum things up he had no idea what was happening, or what he was doing. But he never knew what he was doing so that was normal.

"Futaba!" Contender for the worst mother screamed as she came crashing down atop the dun sending a storm of sand their way. "You should be the one dead! I wish you had never been born!"

He could feel Futaba stiffen at the words, her body going cold and rigid like he was carrying a statue. Not that he could blame her they were fast running out of options, all that was around them was sand, sand, and horrible creatures that were really offended by their living.

"If you want live," The ever calm pharaoh Futaba mumbled, pulling on his hand to get his attention. Seriously these girls were adorable. She pointed towards a small passageway that appeared underneath the Sphinx, "I suggest you hide in there."

Running towards danger to get out of danger? It was so crazy it might just work. Plus his super cool moves as he got them in there were bound to score him bonus points with his soon to be girlfriend. No doubt want she'd see how cool he was and develop an adorable crush on him.

Maybe she was even his underclassmen and would follow him around saying senpai! Don't worry Futaba! Senpai will notice you!

Once inside the oddly well-lit tomb, however, his two damsels were anything but pleased.

"You suck at this!" Futaba yelled as he sat her down, her face was red and her body was shaking. She shook with each breath slowly shrinking down into a ball. "I can't believe you threw me like that!"

"It was the only way." Standard dark vigilante line right there, can't go wrong with classics. His face was probably going to get stuck like that if he kept smirking, not that it was a bad thing, especially if Futaba found it cute.

She glared up at him from her squatting position. "Don't lie to me, you totally just wanted to look cool! Well, guess what you don't get style points in an RPG!"

Well, he caught redhanded. "How do we get out of here anyways?"

"I don't even know where we are." She sighed, the fire in her voice was lost. "I can only make a few guesses at where we're at based on incomplete data but nothing solid, and even then I'd have no idea how to get out, let alone…"

"Futaba!" The sphinx screamed from the outside slamming its paw on the entrance.

She screamed, tears falling from her eyes as she fell to her side.

He could feel Arsene leave him as he stepped forward to embrace Futaba, holding her loosely as he rubbed small circles on her back. "Don't worry, I'll get us out of here. I promise."

The other Futaba appeared, apparently, she had been missing since they first entered the tomb. She was transparent and floating. "You need to leave. Now." The entire world shook with far more force than the sphinx pounding outside. "She can't be here."

Easier said than done.

"Well, how do we do that?"

"The same way you got in."

"I don't see any closets."

XXXX

Shojiro glared at the clock, the damn brat he was supposed to be watching over hadn't bothered to so much as show up. He spent the whole day trying to work out what to say to the punk only for him to pull a no-show. "Last time I stick my neck out for somebody."

He did leave the address for Leblanc didn't he? There was no way he was going to give that delinquent his home address, especially not with Futaba and the whole mess with Sae Niijima. Still, it brought a smile to his face, Futaba had protested the whole ordeal vehemently. She'd probably be happy that he never showed up.

"I should probably take home some Curry, I'm sure Futaba would love it, might even be able to convince her to have a family meal with me." Their last meal had been what? Christmas time? And that was just fried chicken. No, tonight they were going to eat a nice family meal. Besides he had to wait at least twenty-four hours before he could file a missing person's report.

As he closed up shop and walked home with curry in hand it was hard not to think about the lost country boy wandering through Tokyo. No, getting lost is no excuse, even with all the stuff happening with the trains it was still reliable and easy to read. That damn delinquent was probably in some drug den doing hitting up a joint of dab or whatever the new hot drug was. "Back in my day, we'd just get drunk and chase girls."

An elderly man nodded in agreement as they crossed paths, shame the area was filled with a bunch of old folks like him. Perhaps if there were more kids her age around Futaba might be willing to get out of her room. He'd heard her online shouting at her computer and furiously typing about some feeding noob on the online games she spent most of her time with.

But he had to be careful, he didn't want any delinquent to get their hands on Futaba. The last thing she needed was some smoker loser boyfriend with no future to trick her into loving him. Which was why that Akira punk was not allowed anywhere near her. "Not that Futaba would fall for that, she's far too smart for that… And hasn't stepped outside the house in a couple months."

They should go on a trip. Close the cafe for a couple days, leave the house, and that damn prosecutor behind them and enjoy themselves as a family.

The gate to his home was open. The door was shut, but unlocked, and there was a package sitting in the hallway. His father senses were tingling. Something was amiss, the delivery guy wouldn't have brought it in. did Futaba receive it? No, she would have dragged it up to her room if that was the case. "Futaba? You home?"

No scream, that was good… hopefully. No, yell of hunger. But, that was normal. Futaba rarely responded when he came home unless she was hungry. Maybe she was passed out again? It had been a while since the last time she needed a recharge.

And why was there a broom just sitting on the ground? Carefully returning the broom and closing his closet. "Ahh hah, I got it. Futaba, tracked the package online and when the delivery man came she told them to push it inside, all the while she held onto a broom for protection, she tried to bring it up stairs but got exhausted. So she left everything here and is currently sleeping."

Sojiro nodded to himself, it was easy to imagine Futaba doing exactly that. "I better go check on her, make sure she's in bed, We'll have curry some other day. Better go check on her."

He was halfway up the stairs when he heard a thud from behind him.

"Owwie owwie owwie." That was Futaba's voice. From behind him? Was she hiding in the broom closet? "Stupid sand, I can't believe that Joker!"

"Futaba?" he sprinted down the stairs, to see her sitting on the ground rubbing her head, glasses on lopsided and her hair looked frizzy, almost like she had gone outside. Last time she did that she entered the Futaba sleep for nearly a week. "Are you okay? Is everything alright? What happened?"

"Oh? Hi, Sojiro. Oh did you bring home Curry?" Futaba tried to stand but was barely able to, having to use the wall to hold herself up. "Woah, still a bit shaky."

Well, at least Futaba was happy at the moment. "Yea, do you want to-"

There was a ruckus from the closet that cut him off. Followed by a boyish oof and a knocking on the door from inside the closet. Admittedly curiosity got the better of him and he opened the door. Broom, bucket, and black haired boy fell out from the closet in a heap on his floor.

For a few moments, Sojiro stared at the boy. He knew this boy. He had been sent a picture of this boy. This was the no good punk ass bitch that was supposed to show up at his cafe hours ago. And he was hiding in his closet, with Futaba looking like she had been active.

"Alright, you punk!" Sojiro roared pulling Akira up by his shirt. "What the hell are you doing in my house! I gave you specific instructions and directions to show up at Cafe Leblanc. Not break into my house and."

"Sojiro stop!" Futaba scrambled up and positioned herself between her and Akira. Was she defending him? "It's not his fault! Honest!"

Why would she be defending him! Oh god, it happened! Some delinquent punk convinced Futaba that she loved him and now her life was ruined! "What are you talking about Futaba?"

"Ohh," She dropped her arms behind her back and fidgeted slightly like she was in trouble. Then she locked eyes with him, her hands were fists at her sides, looking just as stubborn as her mother once had. She seemed so lively. Was it because of this boy? "I knew that the boy you agreed to watch over was going to be coming today, so I wanted to meet him to make sure he wouldn't hurt you or anything. But I forgot that I had a package coming today, I tried to bring it inside and he saw me struggling and offered to help me. After that, I invited him inside and we played games in my room until I heard you coming home, and then I freaked out I pushed him into the closet and hid under the stairs. And I'm sorry I panicked but it's all my fault! Not Akira's! He's a jerk but he's also a nice guy!"

She was out of breath by the time she finished. And Sojiro could barely keep up let alone grasp the concepts. Futaba had been worried about him, that was sweat. Akira also helped her with a package, that was a nice thing to do. But then he also befriended Futaba… is he the reason why she's so happy? She almost seems like a normal girl right now. Could he really beat the tar out of Futaba's first friend in years? "But I didn't see him when I closed the closet."

A sly smirk appeared on the youth's face. "That's cause you're old."

"Don't push your luck punk!" With a grow Sojiro finally let go of boys collar and sighed. "Well, I guess this makes things easier going forward, but we won't have enough time to make your room livable tonight, so you can stay in the guest room tonight."

"I'm not staying in the guest room?" Akira asked, readjusting his fake glasses, he really did look less threatening with them on. Maybe the kid really was trying to do something about being a delinquent.

"No, you're staying in the attic above Leblanc, mostly so that I have a living security system and someone to close up at night." That and there was no way he was going to let a boy sleep under the same roof as Futaba.

"Sojiro! Akira! I hunger!" Futaba collapsed to the floor again, her hands pressed against the floor to keep her steady. "Feed me curry!"

 **AN: Sorry for the long time no update, been wrestling with depression recently and you know all that fun stuff. So I ended up writing other stuff instead of this. Anyways! Here's the chapter! enjoy it!**


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